Merry Christmas

.......from our home to yours!

Our Christmas Story

We had our traditional FHE Christmas story re-enactment. It was a lot of fun. It is so nice to be able to focus on the Savior and the true meaning of Christmas. Our little Jesus finally fell fast asleep (after a lot of crying) right before we started our little story, so we opted to let him sleep and have Amber's baby doll stand in for Jesus. :)
Doesn't he look so sweet when he is asleep? I think so too!

Aaron and Amber were adorable as Joseph and Mary!!

Our shepherds also doubled as Wise men. When did these boys get so big?!!

And this is what really happens when I try to take pictures of my boys! Gotta love those crazy faces. :) Boys......I just love em!

This one is my favorite. So sweet. Amber was sure a pretty Mary.

The kids did a great job with the Christmas story and had a good time too. Afterward we watched the Nativity video put out by the church. It was so fun.

Brian was really into making funny faces tonight. If you make this picture big you will see he is crossing his eyes. But they sure do make handsome wise men!

Daddy played triple roles tonight. He was the donkey, a shepherd, and a wise man. I am so thankful that we could act out the Nativity as a family. It is one of my favorite things to do at Christmas. Merry Christmas!!!

Twins to the end

When I was a little girl I had a good friend named Kara. We used to say that we were twins. Our moms were good friends. We both had blonde hair. We were similar in size. We were the same age....our birthdays were just a month apart from each other. We used to have and wear the same clothes. I can even remember occasions when we would put paper bags over our heads and then walk out in our matching outfits and ask our moms if they could tell who was who. And even though I am positive that they could tell us apart, they would usually play along. Because, you know, moms are good like that!!! :) When I was in about 2nd grade I think, perhaps younger, she moved away to Houston, but we would still see them from time to time. One year at BYU, by total coincidence, we happened to take the same class at the same time. It was fun. We usually sat by each other.

A little while ago she got married and I got her wedding invitation. Last year we got a Christmas card from them. I think that it is fun to keep in touch, even if it is though Christmas cards. Today, I got a card from her. (I am running behind and will be getting mine out this week!) I was beyond shocked by what I learned!!! This year, she also had a baby. In September. And it was a boy. And the most twin-like thing.......she named her baby Evan!!!!! If that isn't totally crazy I don't know what is!!! We just must really be twins.....even now....and perhaps till the end! :)

The New Weston

Well, Weston has a new haircut!! We decided to give him a bigger kid look with his hair. I thought that it turned out pretty good. It has a hard time doing the part after all of the years if being worn straight down. He looks so much older to me with his hair this way.
And here is the back of his hair. No more bowl cut. It makes me a little sad but he is growing up.

Winter Wonderland

This is what we woke up to this morning! It is just beautiful. :) Luckily for us, there is not as much in the forecast as there are for places further east. We are supposed to have 2 to 4 inches this weekend. So much for that Christmas shopping that I was supposed to be doing! Instead I think that I will cozy up by the fire, finish my Christmas cards and perhaps do some more baking!!! I am sure that the kids will have a grand time in the snow. I am thankful that it came after school was out so that we didn't have to cancel school for it!!!!
The picture doesn't do the view justice. It looks so pretty sitting on my couch, looking at our tree and all the snow out the window! We will see how things turn out, but for now the forecast is calling for a white Christmas!! That would be so much fun!!!!!!

Comparisons

I think that it is so fun to look back at my other kids and see what they looked like at the same age and stage as my current little guy! So, here you go.....for your viewing enjoyment, here are Weston, Brian, Aaron and Amber all at right around 3 months of age!!!

Okay, seriously.....could Weston have been any fatter?!! :) The original picture was blurry, hence the reason that this picture is blurry as well. Weston is actually just before 3 months old in this picture. I had forgotten just how chubby he was until I looked back on the pictures!

Yeah, and don't I look like a kid in this picture! I love this little Texas Ranger's outfit that Weston is wearing here. My brother, Aaron, bought it for him. Every time I get the baby clothes out and wash them up, I am reminded of him!!!

And here is our little Bri Bri at the same age. We had just figured out all of his eating troubles and so he was still just a little on the thin side in this picture. It is amazing to think that in a matter of a month he gained 6 lbs after this!!! WOW! I think that Evan looks the most like Brian though the eyes!

I love this one because it has Aaron in it! Brian really loved his uncle Aaron and would always smile for him!!!!

And then came our chunky little Aaron. He sure isn't chunky now, but just look at those chubby little cheeks!!! My how time flies!

Look at that double chin and those chunky legs!!! I swear that it seems like just yesterday that each one of these kids were born, and now they are so big! Time flies!!!!

And who can forget our little Amber and all of her rolls!!! :) And such a pretty little princess in her cute Christmas dress!!!!

Yes indeed.....time is flying by too fast! Personally, the baby stage is kind of a hard one for me since my babies are so fussy. I am always kind of glad when they get to be a little bigger and start to roll and crawl and be interested in toys and things. But they sure are sweet in the pictures aren't they?!
And lastly, our little Evan from heaven!! :) What a sweet little guy he is (when he isn't crying!)! His sweet smile can melt my heart every time! I am thankful that he came to our home! We sure do love him.

I have to say that I am so thankful for my kids. Each is so different from the next, but so wonderful in his or her own way. I feel so blessed to be a mom to such wonderful kids. Hope you enjoyed the trip down memory lane because I know I did!!! :D

priceless

I love this time of year! I love all the magic that comes with Christmas time. I especially love the magic combined with children. I really just love it all. It makes it a wonderful, magical time of the year. Both Weston and Brian's classes wrote letters to Santa this year. I thought that Brian's was especially cute. It was too cute not to share!

Make it big and look at it! I think that my favorite part is that he has helped to clean up the dirty basement!! :) I do love children! And he has been a good help with his new baby brother!

And this is just a random picture from this morning. I was folding laundry and Evan was crying away. But then Amber came up and started holding his hand and talking sweetly to him. (Never mind the fact that she also tried to sit on him!) He was happier right away! It is so fun to see my children interact with each other. I do believe that it is easier most days to have 5 kids than it was with just 1. They all entertain each other and it is so fun to watch!!!! :)

There aren't enough hours.....

Seriously! There aren't enough hours in a day to get all the things accomplished that I need to!!!! :) Yesterday I did school runs, 7 loads of laundry (and sadly there is still more to be done!), took Aaron to the doctor, went to Krogers, took a nap (this is a must!), changed Evan a bazillion times (thanks to all of his spitting), fixed dinner, went light looking for FHE with the family, cleaned up the house, and yet I am still behind!!! I still need to do the Christmas cards, do some holiday baking, and yeah, have I mentioned that I really haven't done my Christmas shopping yet either!!!!!! Plus, there is the ongoing laundry, cooking, cleaning and all that comes with having a family. I think that we should add about 4 more hours to the day and then perhaps I will be able to make a dent in my to-do list!! No time to blog.....I am skipping nap time today to get the bills done and perhaps whip up a batch of two of cookies for the kids to help me bake up later on!!! How does the month of December fly by so fast every time?!?! I have no idea! :0 In actuality, I really don't mind being busy. I actually like it! I just wish that I was a little more caught up with the things for Christmas. And now, I am off to be a busy beaver before the day is over again!!!!